May 19, 2026
Thom Carroll/For PhillyVoice
The School District of Philadelphia is planning to close 17 public schools. An organization created by Republican megadonor Jeffrey Yass, an advocate for education voucher programs, is offering 500 students from those shuttering schools $8,000 scholarships to attend private schools.
As the School District of Philadelphia prepares to close 17 schools starting next year, Pennsylvania’s richest man has pledged to fund private school scholarships for hundreds of students who are affected by the decision.
The Yass Prize, an initiative created by GOP megadonor and billionaire Jeffrey Yass and his wife, Janine, last week launched the Opportunity Knocks program, which will offer $8,000 annually to 500 students from the schools slated for closure. The scholarship will fund all costs associated with attending one of 16 private schools in the area that have been vetted by the organization.
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Caroline Allen, founding director of the Yass Prize, said the scholarship was founded as a way to give impacted families a choice in their child’s next educational step.
“We’re seeing that 17 of these public schools are closing because families are leaving them,” she said. “It’s a real opportunity for us to give some really important options to families in Philadelphia who deserve not only an excellent education, but a really stable one.”
Students entering first through 12th grades who are currently attending one of the 17 public schools slated for closure will be eligible to apply. Applications can be submitted online and will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Recipients would need to agree to attend one of the Yass Prize-approved schools — which are all Catholic institutions except Liguori Academy in Kensington.
“Families navigating a school closure are already carrying a lot,” Michael Marrone, founder and executive director of Liguori Academy, said in a statement. “The last thing they need is uncertainty about what comes next.”
A representative with the School District of Philadelphia did not respond to a request for comment.
Forbes estimates Yass, who co-founded Bala Cynwyd-based investment firm Susquehanna International Group, to be worth over $67 billion, making him one of the richest people in the world. He has been a vocal critic of the country’s public school system, which he told the Washington Post is failing millions of children.
Since its founding in 2021, the Yass Prize has donated millions to educational institutions around the country through its partner, the Center for Educational Reform, a policy organization that advocates for school choice and voucher programs.
Over the years, Yass has donated millions to Republican candidates who support the promotion of school choice — the concept of allowing families to use taxpayer dollars to attend schools other than their designated public institutions.
His passion for the topic has turned him from skeptic to supporter of President Donald Trump, who he called a “true champion” of school choice after donating at least $2.5 million to his proposed White House ballroom.
Pennsylvania offers donors of scholarship programs tax credits equal to up to 90 percent of the contribution.
“We want to give students in all of the states and communities that we serve options because we believe that a parent best knows what’s going to be the best school for their kid,” Allen said. “... I don’t know if you could put a price tag on what that feeling would be like for a parent.”
